# Low-Fat Cheesecake -- can it be done? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 18, 2009, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/low-fat-cheesecake-can-it-be-done/500187 "2009-06-18T16:05:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![boozilu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4da419/32.png) [@boozilu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boozilu)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2009, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/low-fat-cheesecake-can-it-be-done/500187/1 "2009-06-18T16:05:37Z")
Mr Boozilu loves cheesecake but has high cholesterol. The kids would like to make him a cheesecake for Father’s Day, but don’t want to give him a heart attack. Help! ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2009, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/low-fat-cheesecake-can-it-be-done/500187/2 "2009-06-18T16:52:53Z")
What do you consider “low-fat”? [This](http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=225419&package_id=230863) has 9.4g / serving. I’ve never tried this particular one myself, but I do 95% of my cooking from their recipe books and am always very pleased with the results. ---
**Author:** ![xnylder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/bbce88/32.png) [@xnylder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xnylder)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2009, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/low-fat-cheesecake-can-it-be-done/500187/3 "2009-06-18T17:19:23Z")
I always use reduced-fat cream cheese when I bake cheesecake. I haven’t had to make any changes to my recipes, and I prefer the lighter texture. ---
**Author:** ![boozilu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4da419/32.png) [@boozilu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boozilu)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2009, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/low-fat-cheesecake-can-it-be-done/500187/4 "2009-06-18T17:53:58Z")
Thanks. I’ve tried using fat-free cream cheese before and it comes out runny, but I’ll try the recipe from ArchiveGuy. Mr. Boozilu thanks you. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2009, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/low-fat-cheesecake-can-it-be-done/500187/5 "2009-06-18T17:57:07Z")
Good Luck! and Happy Father’s Day. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2009, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/low-fat-cheesecake-can-it-be-done/500187/6 "2009-06-18T18:10:27Z")
Absolutely it can be done. The type of cheesecake my family has always made is more of a cheese pie, made with a store-bought graham cracker pie crust. I don’t have the recipe with me but the basic idea is cream cheese, creamed with an egg (and some lemon?), poured into the crust and baked. Then this is topped with a sour cream and cheese topping and baked again - best in the world in my opinion. I tried it with fat-free yogurt made into yogurt cheese and fat free sour cream and it came out wonderfully, except it was a little tart. The ingredients were similar to those linked by **ArchiveGuy**. Note that a store-bought graham craker crust could be the biggest source of fat in the recipe. As an experiment I tried filling a custard dish with fat free vanilla yogurt and baked it. It was strangely like cheesecake except for the thin liquid that I had to pour off. I didn’t tell anyone it was baked yogurt and nobody complained. My experiments continue. ---
**Author:** ![badbadrubberpiggy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/57b2e6/32.png) [@badbadrubberpiggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badbadrubberpiggy)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2009, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/low-fat-cheesecake-can-it-be-done/500187/7 "2009-06-18T18:17:54Z")
> [@boozilu](#): > > Thanks. I’ve tried using fat-free cream cheese before and it comes out runny, but I’ll try the recipe from ArchiveGuy. Mr. Boozilu thanks you. Most fat free dairy won’t give you good results when a recipe normally calls for full-fat. LOW fat, however, usually works fine - not as rich as the regular version, but still good. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2009, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/low-fat-cheesecake-can-it-be-done/500187/8 "2009-06-18T23:09:36Z")
> [@shiftless](#): > > I didn’t tell anyone it was baked yogurt and nobody complained. My experiments continue. I used to use things like this, and even mixed in no-fat cottage cheese, the problem is, at some point it ceases to become cheesecake. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t taste good, but you get a good tasting baked yogurt not cheesecake. And the lower the fat you tend to need a bit more sweetner, so you have to be careful you’re not substituting carb calories for fat calories. The easiest way to make the fat free cheesecake is simply start with your favourite recipe and substitute a quarter of the amount of cream cheese with a replacement. If this goes over, then next time, put in half cream cheese, half replacement, then keep trying bit by bit to get the kind of cheesecake you like.